Baby born to mom who refused cancer treatment has died

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DETROIT — A baby born earlier this month to a Michigan mother who died after she refused brain cancer treatment so her child could live, has also died, the family said on Thursday.

Life Lynn DeKlyen, who was born on Sept. 6 at 24 weeks, died overnight, the family posted on Facebook:

“It is with great sadness and a absolutely broken heart that I tell you Life Lynn passed away last night. Carrie is now rocking her baby girl. I have no explanation of why this happened, but I do know Jesus loves us and someday we will know why. The grief we feel is almost unbearable, please be praying for our family.”

The baby’s mother, Carrie DeKlyen, made national headlines when she found out earlier this year she was pregnant with her sixth child only weeks after she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressively malignant brain tumor, according to MLive.com.

For DeKlyen to continue cancer treatment she had begun as part of a clinical trial, DeKlyen would have had to terminate her pregnancy.

“She didn’t want to do that,” her sister-in-law told People, even though her husband, Nick, says her doctor told her she would die if she didn’t receive immediate treatment.

Life Lynn was expected to remain in the intensive care unit for at least four months but she was not gaining weight as quickly as she should. On Sept. 18, the family said doctors found a “small brain bleed” that is sometimes found in 24-week babies.